Transportation

DOT Secretary Ray LaHood responds to a Washington Post editorial that condemned not only the California High Speed Rail project, but President Obama's vision for a national high-speed rail network.

January 17, 2011 - The Washington Post

A second Pew Center report on transportation and climate change has been released. It places most emphasis on vehicle technology and fuel, less on transit and smart growth. However, urban planners should note that pricing policies are stressed.

January 17, 2011 - Pew Center on Global Climate Change

The Council of Edmonton, Alberta is considering allowing liquor advertisements on their buses, which a report estimates could bring in an extra $1 million in revenue.

January 16, 2011 - CBC News

Patrick Chovanec, an economics professor in Beijing, explains that the majority of Chinese have more time and less money, so prefer slower, cheaper modes of travel than the new, expensive bullet trains.

January 16, 2011 - Business Insider

It was nearly 50 years ago, when streetcars were seen on the roadways of downtown Washington, DC. Dan Tangherlini, the former transportation director for the District discusses why streetcars matter in the United States capital.

January 16, 2011 - The City Fix

Randal O'Toole points to a thesis paper that proposes a new approach to traffic flow at major intersections.

January 16, 2011 - The Antiplanner

Tao Rugkhapan reports on the etiology traffic accidents which are becoming all to common in Bangkok as vehicle speeds increase along with lane tolerances and the number of elevated expressways.

January 15, 2011 - This Big City

Streetcars -- a relatively old transportation technology -- have more traction than high tech solutions like monorails in the modern age of mobility. Want proof? Just look at Disneyland, says Tom Vanderbilt.

January 15, 2011 - Slate

For many immigrants in Los Angeles, bicycling is the only viable way to get around. A group of activists is trying to make that transportation reality safer and more reliable.

January 14, 2011 - Good

January 13, 2011 - Tim Halbur

The city still known for its smog will not have its buses to blame - the last of its diesel-fueled ones retired Jan. 12 in a celebration. All but 7 of the 2,221 buses will be compressed-natural-gas powered; electric and gas-electric the remainder.

January 13, 2011 - Los Angeles Times: Environment

One of columnist Steve Berg's New Year's resolutions is to explain to how supporting urbanist ideas like using cars less and retrofitting suburbs come from sound principles and aren't based in elitism.

January 12, 2011 - The Minneapolis Post

In a review of the new bike sharing program in London, The Economist raises the question of whether the city wrongly predicted the existing demand for the service.

January 11, 2011 - The Economist

Metro stations, train stations and streetcar systems have distinct ways of showing how to get from one area to another. TheCityFix's Jonna McKone looks at mass transit systems from Mexico City to Paris and the visual representations used in each one.

January 11, 2011 - TheCityFix

The state of Detroit is alarming, particularly in its continued dependence on cars, but there is hope that the city could reinvent itself as an ecological metropolis, says Jeffrey Kenworthy of the Curtin University of Technology.

January 10, 2011 - Jeff Kenworthy

Lawrence Avenue in Chicago's Lincoln Square ballooned over the years to 4 lanes. Putting the street on a "road diet" will make it friendlier to pedestrians.

January 10, 2011 - The Chicago Tribune

Sounding very much like the new OH and WI Republican governors, a key state Republican legislator wants to avoid the ongoing state subsidy for Iowa City to Chicago trains. At stake is $230 million in a Federal rail grant to build 110 mph trains.

January 10, 2011 - Des Moines Register

Contracts have been signed on a tunnel project to replace the earthquake-damaged Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle. But opponents are still trying to stop the project.

January 9, 2011 - The Seattle Times

Mayors of some of the biggest cities in the U.S. talk about what makes a city smart, and how cities can become smarter.

January 9, 2011 - Time

Anthony Flint offers this list of the top ten reasons to be nice to pedestrians in 2011.

January 8, 2011 - The Boston Globe